Bookworm Deluxe : King Henry VIII

Actually this time I wanted to review on "Sophie's World" or "Memoirs Of A Geisha", two of those better books of modern times, but since I have lent "Sophie's World" to a new friend, I leave it to him to do the review, which I believe will be better than mine. ;-p And "Memoirs Of A Geisha" just got reviewed by another fellow blogger, who did a very comprehensive job. Thus I am going back to the past.

The actual title of this book is “The Autobiography of King Henry VIII (With Notes By His Fool, Will Somers)”, written by Margaret George, highly-acclaimed writer and historian. She is able to weave true events into heart-wrenching stories, told from the main character’s point of view.

King Henry VIII reigned from fifteenth to sixteenth century England, during the Tudor era. He was probably one of the most misunderstood and controversial political figures of all times. There are differing opinions on whether he was a Casanova, a rogue, a brute, a wonderful king, a man who wanted to play God, or simply just an ordinary human.

He was the one that made England Anglican by renouncing Roman Catholicism by cutting away from the Pope and placing himself as the Supreme Head of the Church of England, as the Pope did not wish to grant him the divorce he wanted, as divorce was not allowed in the Catholic church. (Is this rule still valid now?)

He was the one that introduced modern (in those times) music and dance into his court. He was the one that yearned for a son and neglected his daughters, even treating them as slaves, and the one who married six times, divorced twice, beheaded two wives and widowed once.

The book was like Henry’s own diary, on his childhood memories, his early training to be a priest, his accidental rise to become the heir to the throne when his elder brother Arthur died, his marrying his first wife Princess Katherine of Aragon (one of the major lands that formed the basis of modern Spain, together with Castile and Leon), who was his brother's widow, their many children who died in infancy (except for the future Queen Mary), his mistresses Bessie Blount (who gave birth to his illegitimate son Henry Fitzroy, later the Duke of Richmond, who died at the age of sixteen) and Mary Boleyn (whom he suspected was carrying his child when she was forced to marry another man), his divorce from Katherine (which he fell out with the Pope) to marry Anne Boleyn (sister of Mary), who gave birth to the future Queen Elizabeth I and whom he beheaded by accusing her of being a witch, his third wife Jane Seymour (one of Anne’s maids) whom he loved the most probably because she died giving birth to his only son (the future King Edward VI), his fourth wife Anne of Cleves (a political marriage to a German Lutheran Princess) whom he divorced, his fifth wife Catherine Howard (sister of his childhood friend whom he made the Duke of Norfolk) whom he beheaded by accusing her of adultery, and his sixth wife Katherine Parr who outlived him.

The entire book was an account of his life, his feelings, his reasons for doing the things he did, the way he administered the country’s affairs (despite all else and religious riots, he was a pretty capable king as England experienced peace, arts and culture during his reign, which was later exceeded by his daughter Queen Elizabeth I). The account was interspersed with various ramblings by his jester, Will Somers, who knew him in the tenth year of his reign, and was one of those few who knew him since young at his funeral.

Will wrote his own prologue and epilogue to the “diary”. The prologue was set during Queen Mary’s time, after the death of King Edward, who only reigned for a short three years, and never was even a fraction as capable as his father. Queen Mary wanted to restore Catholicism back to England and killed anyone who refused to conform to the faith, earning her the nickname “Bloody Mary”. During King Henry’s time, the people of England was already losing faith, thus his church reforms came about just in time. Queen Elizabeth I (still one of the best rulers England ever had) then revoked all the rules Mary set out and made England Protestant again, thus those who wanted to practice the Catholic faith had to do it secretly.

Will’s epilogue was on the aftermath of Henry’s funeral, the political turmoil that resulted with many claims to the throne, as Edward was still a minor and sickly, thus a lot of his cousins wanted to seize the throne. Will also made his own reflections on how Henry was like, and made a note that Henry was nothing like what his public perceived him to be – a flirtatious rogue who wined and dined and feasted so much that he grew so fat and died. Rather, Henry was a loving husband (??), a true friend and a gentle father (??).

Margaret George’s two other books before King Henry, “The Memoirs of Cleopatra” and “Mary, Queen of Scotland And The Isles”, as well as her newest book “Mary, Called Magdalene”, was also on the same autobiography genre, from the account of the first person. Her books are interesting and intense, as the stories were told from the main characters' point of views, so it really made you want to continue reading until the end. Her books contain very vivid accounts of the lives and issues surrounding the main characters, which shows much thorough research on her part. I will recommend her books to anyone, not just because of the autobiography types, but because her style of writing is entertaining and easy to read.

A little trivial :

1. The English monarchy originated from William of Normandy in 1066, so it was passed down from the House of Normandy, House of Blois, House of Plantagenet, House of York and Lancaster, House of Tudor, House of Stuart (after Queen Elizabeth I's death, her cousin King James of Scotland was crowned king of England, thus ever since then, England and Scotland had been jointly ruled by a monarch), House of Hanover, House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (Queen Victoria's reign), House of Windsor (changed from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha). Thus, the current British royal family bears the surname of Windsor.

2. Lutheran and Anglican were the first Christian denominations to break away from the Roman Catholic faith. Thus their practices and customs are the most similar to Catholics. The Lutheran faith was started by a former Roman Catholic priest called Martin Luther in fifteenth century Germany (then broken into many lands and mostly ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor of the powerful Habsburg Empire, that ruled the modern Italy, Germany, Austria, Poland, the Netherlands, and later on Spain and Portugal as well).

3. Queen Elizabeth I is known as "the Virgin Queen" as she never married, and always claimed she was married to England. Her reign saw more improvements in music and dance performances, and theatres and plays originated from her time. Shakespeare lived during her reign, and his works were often performed at public theatres to which the Queen sometimes attended.